Town News Briefing

CLINTON -- Police were investigating Wednesday the death of a 25-year-old local man struck Tuesday by a Shoreline East commuter train, apparently after losing control of his motorcycle near Route 145.

Train engineers told police that, shortly after 8 p.m., they began to apply the brakes when they first saw a motorcycle on the tracks after rounding a corner. But it wasn't until they saw Adam Curry, of Carriage Drive, apparently trying to free himself from under the dirt bike that they made an emergency stop. They said the train could not stop in time to avoid hitting him.

Even if an emergency stop was made when the engineers first saw the motorcycle, Clinton police Sgt. Russell Marchant said, the train wouldn't have stopped in time.

The speed limit for trains in that area is 90 mph. It was unclear how fast the train was going.

Marchant said Curry and his friend had planned to ride motorcycles together. Curry rode to his friend's house, but for some reason, left without him. He was apparently riding between the rails on the tracks when he lost control of his motorcycle and fell, Marchant said.

Marchant said it probably never will be known what state Curry was in when he was hit by the train. It's possible that he was semiconscious and unaware of the oncoming train, or that he was unconscious before he was hit. Curry may have been trapped under his Kawasaki motorcycle and unable to get off the track in time, Marchant said.

State police said it is not uncommon for people to ride their motorcycles illegally on or next to the tracks in that area.

About 50 people were on the train, which was traveling north between New Haven and New London. No passengers were injured. They were transferred to another train.

A second track remained open, but train traffic slowed to a crawl, state police said.

STATEWIDE

Engineering, Science

Students To Be Lauded

Lt. Gov. Jodi Rell will honor 30 high school seniors from Connecticut at the state Capitol today for graduating from a program that encourages minority and female students to explore careers in science, math, engineering and technology.

The program, called Discovering the Powers of Mathematics, Science and Engineering, was formerly known as the Connecticut Pre-Engineering Program. It serves 11 school districts and 5,000 students.

The students Rell will honor, their high schools and the colleges they will attend are as follows:

From Bulkeley High School in Hartford, Mackson Calixte, Manchester Community College.

From Hartford Public High School, Jabeth Ocampo, Trinity College in Hartford.

From Weaver High School in Hartford, Elizabeth Lanteigne, Southern Connecticut State University; Demetria Lightbody, University of Hartford; Kyle Rocke, University of Massachusetts; Courtney Woodard, St. Joseph College in West Hartford.

From Bloomfield High School, Donville Riley, University of Connecticut.

From Middletown High School, Gary Clarke, University of Pennsylvania; Kenan Goggins, Cornell University.

From New Britain High School, Luz Leyda Rodriguez, Tunxis Community College.

From Haddam-Killingworth High School, Jason Holycross, University of New Haven.

From Bassick High School in Bridgeport, Pro Phgie Johnson, Norwalk Community College; Fabiola Joseph, Teikyo Post University in Waterbury; Jenid Morales, Sacred Heart University in Fairfield; Almir Otajagic, University of New Haven.

From Central High School in Bridgeport, Sandranette Bunting, college undecided; Braulio Peguero, Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine; Dominique Sanon, Rutgers University; Tinh-Quan Truong, University of Hartford; Jevene Wright, Central Connecticut State University.

From Career Magnet High School in New Haven, Helen Bush, Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C.; Ivy Morgan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

From Eli Whitney Regional Vocational-Technical School in Hamden, James Harriott, University of Connecticut.

From Hopkins School in New Haven, Chanelle Dumas, Howard University.

From West Haven High School, Andrew Philips, Western Connecticut State University.

From Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Peter West, Hampton University in Hampton, Va.; Adam Whitaker, joining the military; Jamilia Maebry, University of Connecticut.

From Amity Regional Senior High School in Woodbridge, Heewa Barfchin of Orange, Southern Connecticut State University.

From Stamford High School, Jonathan Gordon, George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

KILLINGWORTH

Finance Board Sets

Tax Rate For 2001-02

KILLINGWORTH -- The board of finance has set a tax rate of 29.3 mills for 2001-02 after shaving the projected increase by one-tenth of a mill following the second referendum defeat of the Region 17 education budget.

The tax rate set by the board at a special meeting last week represents a 0.6-mill increase over the current rate of 28.7 mills. A tax rate of 29.3 mills represents $29.30 in tax for each $1,000 of assessed property value.